Ashok Pandit of the 'Pink City' is so much influenced with the personality of Congress party President Sonia Gandhi that he has tattooed her name on his chest for 125 times!

Many of us may have heard of film stars' fans attempting dare devil acts to draw attention.

But Ashok Pandit of the 'Pink City' is so much influenced with the personality of Congress party President Sonia Gandhi that he has tattooed her name on his chest for 125 times!

Ashok, an auto rickshaw driver by profession, got his chest tattooed with Sonia Gandhi's name, but he had to be admitted to a hospital after this act.

He doesn't belong to the Congress party, but reveres Sonia as a goddess.
His fascination started since the day he learned that she had sacrificed the post of Prime Minister after 2004 general elections.

The tattooing cost Ashok rupees 500, which is his one-day's earning and a week at a hospital, much to the dismay of his family.

"This is my belief towards Sonia Ji...I worship her like a goddess. I do not do anything until I worship her. Only after I take bath and worship her, I begin my day's work," said Ashok.

Friends in the neighbourhood are amazed as well as smiling over Ashok's fondness for Sonia Gandhi, who is also the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"He is sacrificing a lot of things for Soniaji. Not even her party members would do something like this for her. I have seen him worshipping her everyday. He even asks the passenger to get down of his auto, if he spots any sudden news about her on television or when he's reading a newspaper," said Rajendra Kumar, a friend of Ashok.

The Congress party leads the 25-party Central ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Sonia had refused to accept the country's top job in May 2004 after the Congress, defying all pollsters and pundits, carved out a stunning election victory over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).